Disability criteria

Disability criteria

Children and young people must have additional complex needs, or have a serious or life threatening illness, and the child or young person’s condition must be long-term or life-limiting. By long term, we mean 12 months or more.

There must be evidence that a child or young person’s additional needs impact on a family’s choices and their opportunity to enjoy ordinary life. The degree of planning and support required to meet their needs must be greater than that usually required to meet the needs of children and young people.

Children and young people must require a high level of support in three or more of the following areas:

The physical environment: adjustments and adaptations to the home, school and other environments.

Education: the level and type of educational support the child receives to access the curriculum.

Access to social activities: limitation of opportunities and support needed to take part in society on an equal level with others due to social and environmental barriers.

Personal care, supervision and vigilance: care packages around management and supervision of a child’s condition. Where adults need to provide this well over the age a child would be expected to help self care or monitor their condition(s).

Medical or therapeutic treatment and condition management: significant support and therapeutic input for suction, oxygen, overnight feeding, transfusions and monitoring of bloods.

A decision about whether we can help is not dependent on a child having a diagnosis or whether a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award has been made, but whether a child meets Take a Break’s disability criteria, which is based on a social model of disability not a medical model.

Take a Break has limited funding and is not able to help all families caring for a disabled child or young person.

You do not need to wait for a diagnosis to make an application if you think your child may meet the criteria.